China air drive lands bombers on South China Sea island

China air drive lands bombers on South China Sea island

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s air force has landed bombers on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as portion of a schooling work out in the disputed area, it mentioned in a assertion.

“A division of the People’s Liberation Military Air Pressure (PLAAF) not long ago structured many bombers these as the H-6K to conduct just take-off and landing instruction on islands and reefs in the South China Sea in order to boost our skill to ‘reach all territory, perform strikes at any time and strike in all directions’,” it mentioned in the statement issued on Friday.

It explained the pilot of the H-6K bomber conducted assault education on a selected sea goal and then carried out choose-offs and landings at an airport in the place, describing the exercising as preparing for “the West Pacific and the fight for the South China Sea”.

The notice, revealed on the PLAAF’s Weibo microblogging account, did not present the specific location of the physical exercise.

The United States has dispatched warships to disputed locations of the South China Sea in a bid to challenge China’s in depth sovereignty promises in the territory, which is subject matter to numerous promises by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

“The United States continues to be committed to a absolutely free and open Indo-Pacific,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan instructed Reuters.

“We have viewed these same reports and China’s ongoing militarization of disputed functions in the South China Sea only serves to elevate tensions and destabilize the area.”

(Reporting by David Stanway and Winni Zhou Extra reporting by Phil Stewart in WASHINGTON Modifying by Kim Coghill)